The Internet Generation (anyone who can’t remember a time in their lives when the iPod didn’t exist) prefers to do their own primary research, first noticing what products friends and family are using, then turning to Google to see what other people think. Today's Wall Street Journal article captures the power of influencers nicely.  The result: a new rule must be followed to succeed with the iGeneration: marketing isn’t what you do to reach your first customers; it’s what you do to help your first customers reach the rest.

Apple marketing has figured this out. Look carefully at Apple’s iPod television commercials, billboards or posters. Here is a reminder: